[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Fred and Matic have no defining quality about them needed to become a top 4 team let alone winning the league less said about Lingard the better

It’s weird that you pick out arguably our best 2 performers on the night to criticise.

 

[Cypherage]

It’s weird that you pick out arguably our best 2 performers on the night to criticise.

To be fair they, well Fred has been the best of a bad bunch, as it stands for me I think he is just a 52M Anderson, yes he does try, but boy what is it when Brazilians come to United, they lose there shooting boot's at the door.

 

[Dans]

Pep and the City players are so incredibly bitter post-match:

Pep:


KdB:





They are, and always be a small-time club.

They are not wrong though and if you think they are, you are kidding yourself and being bitter towards them for the sake of it.

 

[Adnan]

Tweet

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[L1nk]

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Sums up City in that game really, what in the hell was this , we won more down to City's stupidity really

 

[The Original]

Better than expected.

At least this is the last of Lingardinho. Nearly conceded two goals because he lost the ball or gave it away.

That's not his fault. An attacker losing the ball is no reason for defenders not dealing with the problem.

 

[Smores]

Pathetic display in truth but we won and in a derby so I'm not sure i care that much. I kind of prefer beating our rivals in a fashion that annoys them.

As long as we don't play like that in the other games.

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

Poor again. No chances created and playing like if we had to defend a lead.
We can only hope that Bruno will bring some creativity.
Throw him + Pogba + Rashford into the team and get a decent winger and we might be talking.

And a manager with a clue of course.

 

[Full bodied red]

Would love to get City’s foul count v yellow cards from the 180 mins.
Maybe Ole should have called the tactical fouling before the game last night to put some pressure on the ref? It was too late after the game.

It would be even more interesting to get these same stats for all the games since Old Baldy took over.

It seems everyone knows deliberate fouls are a crucial part of his tactics but still the Refs don't or won't do anything about it.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

It would be even more interesting to get these same stats for all the games since Old Baldy took over.

It seems everyone knows deliberate fouls are a crucial part of his tactics but still the Refs don't or won't do anything about it.

According to the stats on Sky last night we committed eleven fouls and so did they. They got two bookings, we got one bookings and a red.

 

[Bestietom]

How many times have we had 25 and more shots on goal and not won. Lovely beating these crowd, no matter how.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Finally got to watch the game.
If we could stop giving the ball away so much we could have won that. Lindelof and Lingard were determined for us not to retain possession.
We rode our luck and DDG MoM but City looked nervous. The wrong player went off at half time. Matic played well despite the goal and the sending off. Ref was a bit too lenient on City.

Front players had so little to feed off although none of them played very well with the little chances they did have.
Mata looked furious he didn't get to take the free kick at the end.

Hopefully get Bruno over the line and Pogba back and we can throw the cone in the bin (was he booed when finally taken off?) and get some service going forward.

 

[Maticmaker]

We weathered the first 30 minute City storm thanks to Matic and thanks to him we came in with a one goal lead at half time. City couldn't finish off a team that was even more depleted than previously at the Etihad, and they paid for it in an embarrassing loss, even though they won the tie overall.

We chalked up another victory at the Etihad, silenced the true City supporters who could be bothered to turn up, and didn't disgrace ourselves. OK we didn't win overall and the only dark cloud was the Red card. If we are going to get away with professional fouls (as some City players did all night) we have to be smarter in application. I've noticed since Young left no one goes after the ref whispering in his ear, a new trick for Maguire to learn?

 

[Withnail]

That's not his fault. An attacker losing the ball is no reason for defenders not dealing with the problem.

We were attacking and he tried to lay the ball off to a team mate he passed it straight to a City player enabling a quick break.

It was his feckin fault.

 

[Withnail]

Finally got to watch the game.
If we could stop giving the ball away so much we could have won that. Lindelof and Lingard were determined for us not to retain possession.
We rode our luck and DDG MoM but City looked nervous. The wrong player went off at half time. Matic played well despite the goal and the sending off. Ref was a bit too lenient on City.

Front players had so little to feed off although none of them played very well with the little chances they did have.
Mata looked furious he didn't get to take the free kick at the end.

Hopefully get Bruno over the line and Pogba back and we can throw the cone in the bin (was he booed when finally taken off?) and get some service going forward.

They said on commentary that Greenwood got a knock in the first half and that's why he was subbed but agree Lingard should have been off at half-time as well.

 

[The Original]

We were attacking and he tried to lay the ball off to a team mate he passed it straight to a City player enabling a quick break.

It was his feckin fault.

Attacking players lose the ball all the time. Every single one of them including Messi. Unless he lost the ball and gave it to a player who immediately had a goal scoring chance, the chain of causation is far too remote for it to simply be his fault.

Where were Fred and Matic who should have been behind him? Where were the defenders? That's at least two layers of protection that weren't there when they should have been or were there without being effective.

 

[noodlehair]

DDG - For some reason I thought it was Romero until just before half time. Played well but shouldn't pretend to be Romero

Bissaka - Struggled. Apart from when up against Sterling, but then all you have to do is get out the way and wait for him to fall over.
LIndelof - Pretty decent
Maguire - Faultless, almost Rio Ferdinand like performance, ruined slightly by him passing the ball straight to a City 8 yards away from his own goal.
Shaw - Honeslty I couldn't say if he did well or not because I didn't notice him. Didn't even do the thing where he gets his standard yellow card for rugby tackling someone in the 67th minute.
Williams - Every pass was either needlessly backwards, or to a City player, or sometimes both. He's young and looks a real talent but games like this always have a big chance of being a struggle for a young defender.

Matic - Played well apart from costing us the chance to win the tie. Controversial opinion: I actually think he's been very good since coming back in the team.
Fred - Did ok, and sometimes not so ok.
Lingard - The only surprise with him giving the ball away so often that Ole had to threaten him and then sub him off, is that since when does he get the ball that often in the first place?

Greenwood - Not up to much. Not the right game for a finisher really. You need actual chances for him to finish.
Martial - For someone who wants to play as a striker, he spends an awful lot of time looking like someone playing as a striker even though they don't want to.

Subs:
James - Obviously didn't think there was enough diving on the pitch with just Sterling
LIngard/Pereira - When there's only the toffee sweets left in the Quality Street tin and you can't decide which specific one you don't really want to eat.
Mata - Came on in order to not take a freekick.

The freekick - Why is Fred taking freekicks from positions Mata can score from? This is up there with our corner taking stupidity. Even a school team has it's best freekick taker, take freekicks. I mean when I type it out, it's so obvious why is it even a point of discussion? Why not get whoever takes it to use their weaker foot for no fecking reason as well while we're at it? I mean fecking hell. Stupidest team in the world.

Ole - Sometimes I think he does actually have something going for him. For example, him yelling "one more time and you're off" at Lingard, and then actually taking him off when he then subsequently gave the ball away. It shows he is aware of what's going on, has standards he wants the players to meet, even in the toughest games. It also shows he has no hesitation making a decision if he thinks someone isn't doing well enough, It also shows he commands respect from the players as otherwise he simply wouldn't be able to do that...but then, we get a freekick in the 85th minute and Fred takes it instead of Mata, so...I dunno

Sterling - How is he always so shite yet somehow manages to be a good player?

Weird game. I mean it's a respectable result, and the players gave a lot, but then when of our two best players, one tried to set up an open goal for the other team, and the other got deliberately sent off, it doesn't really suggest it was that great.

 

[Withnail]

Attacking players lose the ball all the time. Every single one of them including Messi. Unless he lost the ball and gave it to a player who immediately had a goal scoring chance, the chain of causation is far too remote for it to simply be his fault.

Where were Fred and Matic who should have been behind him? Where were the defenders? That's at least two layers of protection that weren't there when they should have been or were there without being effective.

Were you watching the game?

Bringing up Messi in this context is quite frankly laughable.

Fred had just passed it to him and he tried what should have been a simple short pass back towards midfield which went wayward, taking Fred out of the game. It wasn't as if he attempted a difficult through ball, because we all know he doesn't do that.

He's a liability and shouldn't get near the match day squad again.

 

[Maticmaker]

Mata looked furious he didn't get to take the free kick at the end.

Yes he did, he seemed to be exchanging signals with the bench?
If Ole wanted him to take it, then where was Maguire, surely the captain needed to get involved?

 

[simplyared]

It was mission impossible from the start. However if they were ever up for the taking it was the other night. We'd have won with Rashford in the side.

 

[Suedesi]

It was a weird match, as I was mentally prepared for an onslaught that never really came. Weird that the way the match unfolded it could have been over after 20 minutes, but by the same token we could have nicked it at the end and forced penalties.

Injuries aside (for both teams), City are miles ahead, but they are still a flawed and profligate team that won't go far in Europe - against the likes of Liverpool, Madrid, Bayern, Barcelona, Juve you need ruthlessness upfront and a waterproof defense. City's anything but - they miss chances galore and they seem to concede on the first half chance they allow. Also they don't strike me as mentally tough, they don't like a dogfight, and you could see us playing better and them missing simples passes when the game became tight and they realized it wasn't going to be a walk in the park.

As for our players:
De Gea: MOTM. Made at least 3 interventions that saved goals, and was brave in coming out after Lindeloff gave a weak ass ball that Aguero could/should have won. Dave was quick off his line and seemed to command his area well. Good passing. Overall, a vintage De Gea performance.

AWB - good defensively, poor offensively. He shows great athleticism, but not enough ball playing skills. Don't think he's the ultimate RB solution we all hoped he'd be this summer.

Lindeloff - overall seemed ok, except the usual brain farts - the weak pass to De Gea, and routinely getting beaten in the air by shorter opponents. Needs some testicular fortitude and a bit of arrogance in his game.

Maguire - again, overall was very good, some amazing tackles - one on Sterling when he was clean through and about to shoot stood out, good composure, dominated in the air, one stupid ball giveaway that could have proven costly, but didn't.

Shaw - he was ok defensively and didn't make any major errors, but he's seems so slow to close opponents down. Everything is so lethargic with this guy, there's never any urgency whatsoever. Deflected a Mahrez shot, which De Gea did well to push out. Never the long term LB solution, playing him as CB when we have 7 in our books would be foolish.

Brandon Williams - seems like the antithesis of Luke Shaw. Plays without fear. Fast. Instinctive. Runs a lot. Clearly not the final product (and remains to be seen if the final product is good enough for our aspirations), but I like him a lot. The boy's got spirit and should be allowed to grow and develop. Missed some passes yesterday, BUT City are the second best pressing team in the country and if he's got no outlet upfront then he's going to play it safe or lose the ball - can't fault him too much for that.

Fred - FK aside, I think he had a very good match. At times plays like a street footballer, he can break a tackle and come away with a ball, he's got guile, tenacity and was instrumental in breaking up City's press. Needs to improve shooting and range of passing - he can spray 30 yards to the flanks, but passes that break the lines are missing from his repertoire.

Matic - like Fred, he was press resistant. He uses his body very well to shield the ball, so he's always an option to pass to if you're in trouble. He's got a good pass: crisp and good range. He's been very good since he came back to the side. Now maybe we collectively have written this guy off and everything good he does is a pleasant surprise, or maybe he just found a good vein of form. He also got a bit of Balkan arrogance in him which in healthy doses can be very good. Harsh sending off, terrific goal.

Lingard - I've never seen a 'playmaker' be so afraid of the ball. As soon as he receives it, he just gives it back and runs away as if it were a hot potato scalding his fingers. It's bizarre, I mean his technique on the ball must be so fecking horrible. He's not losing the ball because he's trying fancy one-two or crazy flicks, he's genuinely afraid of the ball and wants to be nowhere near it. A fecking pussy of player. "Just run" cannot be the remit of a Man Utd midfield player, otherwise they should recruit from track and field not the academy.

Greenwood - anonymous in the first half, but can't really blame him because he was starved off service. It's unfair on him for the club to totally rely so much on him this early into his career. Ideally, he should be used for 10-15 minutes to generally learn the trade not be kicking target practice for Otamendi and co.

Martial - lazy performance, but like Greenwood was starved off service. In a functioning team, with proper support he can be a devastating auxiliary striker, but asking him to lead the line and not offer any service whatsoever is too much. He's not a bruiser, he's not a guy that will harass CB's, go after every ball, pull hair, bite necks... Still, he could and should work harder.

Pereira - doesn't have the technical skills or the physical attributes to play for this club

Dan James - see Pereira

Mata - needed to show more balls and take that FK. He's been at the club longer than Fred, he's a true veteran at this club, show it!

 

[SmashedHombre]

Matic - Played well apart from costing us the chance to win the tie.

I'd say it was the ref who cost us. First was never a yellow in a million years.

 

[noodlehair]

I'd say it was the ref who cost us. First was never a yellow in a million years.

It was a bit harsh but the second yellow was pure stupidity.